Consider deprecating old middleware API

**Description**
Currently core lacks proper logging support.

**Proposed solution**
Add configurable logging with sensible defaults.

**Priority**: Low/Medium

No files, tests, or entry points are identified. First inspect the core implementation and existing output paths to clarify whether this issue concerns middleware deprecation or configurable logging; done means an agreed scope, sensible defaults, and coverage for the resulting logging behavior.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.